Apparatus for covering articles



Jan. 15, 194s. 4 T. K, Cox ETAL 2,393,923

APPARATUS FOR COVERING ARTICLES Filed June 30, 1942" 3 Sheets-Sheet l Q.. I Si /A/Vfwrans Z' COX AA. M GRA Y Jan. l5, '1946. T, K, cox ETAL APPARATUS FOR covERING ARTICLES mi A u.

Jan. 15, 1946. lT. K. ox Er A.. 2,393,023

APPARATUS FOR COVERING ARTICLES Filed June o, 1942 3 sheets-sheet s terial.

Patented Jan. 15, 1946 Thomas K. Cox, Randallstown,

Jorma, Md., assgnors to Incorporated, New New York and Vincent A. Rayburn,

Alvin N. Gray, Baltimore,

Western Electric Company, York, N. Y., a corporation of Application June 3o, 1942, serial-N0. 4449.070

7 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for covering articles and more particularly to apparatus for covering cables or the like.

It has been4 found highly desirable tocoat lead-sheathed communication cable with a rubber covering to prevent deterioration of the lead sheath due to'the electrolytic action of electric currents in'and about the cable when the latter is buried in the ground. In orderto obtain adhesion between the lead sheath and the rubber covering, one procedure has been to electroplate a thin coating of brass upon the lead sheath, to apply a layer of rubber compound thereover, and then to vulcanize the, rubber compound. When this brass electroplating process is employed, surface irregularities or intervening foreign particles on the surface of the cable frequently cause arcing and spot fusing which may puncture the lead sheath.

Several organic compounds have been employed to cause rubber to adhere to a metal surface, but the usual practice is to coat a cold metal article with these fairly viscous, rubber adherent compounds and to dry the coating with external heat. However, these organic compounds cannot be applied to a cold cable and dried by external heat with suflicient rapidity to make their use commercially practical.

It is highly desirable to apply a rubber adherent compound to a hot freshly extruded cable before the cable is reeled `up, because grease must be applied to the cable just before it is reeled up to prevent adjacent coils of cable from sticking to one another. To later apply the rubber adherent compound to the cable would require the removal of the grease therefrom and the subsequent drying of the cable surface. The diiliculty encountered when these compounds are applied to a freshly extruded cable sheath is that the temperature of the lead sheath at that time is so high that rubber adherent organic compounds decompose and lose their adhesive properties when applied to the cable.

An object of this invention is to provide apparatus for covering articles and more particularly to provide apparatus for covering cables or the like. l

An apparatus embodying the present invention comprises a plurality of atomizing nozzles positioned about the path of an article for projecting a finely divided spray of a cooling medium upon the article and a plurality of sprays for spraying upon the cable a liquid coating ma- Cooling means are provided for cooling the coated cable.

Other features and advantages of' the invendetailed description of one embodiment thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 E a side elevation of an article treating apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the article treating apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the article treating apparatus shown in Fig. y1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the article treating apparatus taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5 taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 'l is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5 taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 1.

In the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings, a lead press I0 (Figs. 1 and 2) extrudes a sheath of lead at a temeprature of approximately 450 F.

about a cable core II to form the sheathed cable I2. Immediately after emerging from the lead press I0, the cable I2 is cooled by means of a cooling device, indicated in general at I4 (Fig. 1),. which projects a mist of cooling medium upon the cable. The cooling device I4, as shown in the enlarged views of Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, comprises three atomizing nozzles I5, I6 and I'I. The upper two nozzles, I5 and Il, are connected to a source I8 of air or other suitable gas through pipes I9 and 20 (Fig. 4), respectively, and to a source 2| of a cooling medium, such as water, through pipes 22 and 23 (Fig. 3), respectively. The lower nozzle; I 6 is connected to the air source I8 and to the water source 2| through the pipes 24 and 25 (Fig. 3), respectively. When the proper amounts of air and water are forced through the atomizing nozzles I5, I6 and Il, a line mist of atomized water particles are projected against and about the hot cable I2, those water particles which strike the cable ilashing o'i immediately into steam.

The nozzles I5, I6 and I'I and their piping connections are supported byr lugs 26 26, which are affixed at one end to the pipes I9, 20, 2 I and 22 and at the other-end to sleeves 28-28 surrounding parallel rods 29 29. The rods 29-29 and a rod 30 are bolted to a flat plate 3| having an aperture 32 (Fig. 4) formed therein to flt ,the lugs 26--2-6 over die nut 34 of the lead press l0. The rods 29-29 are connected at the other end to lugs 3i --36 which are welded to walls 39-38 formed in a sheet metal member 39. A threaded socket 40 welded to the sheet metal member 99 near its lower extremity forms ajunction for the rod 32. A portion of the sheet metal member 39 is bent over to form a hook 4| (Fig. 5), which'extends over an edge 42 of a wall 43 of an exhaust duct 44 to supportthe cooling device I4. Cable guide rings 45-45 are supported and positioned by means of arms 48-46 welded to the sleeves 28-28, while a guide ring 41 is supported and positioned by means of arms 48-48 welded to the lugs 26-26.

The entire cooling device i: may be horizontally adjusted by repositioning sleeves 63-63 upon the rods 29-29. For example the sleeves 63-63 at the right end of the device I4, as'seen in Fig. 3, may be removed, the sleeves 28--28 to which are attached may be slid over the rods 29-29 toward the right and the sleeves lSii-63 that were removed from the right end of the rods 29-29; may be slid on the left end of the rods 29-29. This manner of horizontally adjusting the cooling device i4 permits rigid positioning of the cooling device and may be used to regulate to a certain extent the temperature of the cable as" it passes into a container 6.9 between the walls 38--38. By disconnecting the air and water pipes, the cooling device I4 may be removed from the rest of the apparatus merely by pushing theiplate 3l forwardly oi of the die nut 34, simultaneously freeing the hook 4I from the edge 42, and lifting the device I4' therefrom. In this manner repairs and replacements may be made witha minimum loss of time. Factors which may be regulated to control the temperature of the cable as it enters the container 49 are the ratio of the amount of water to the amount of air projected by the atomizers, the speed of the cable, and the thickness of the lead sheath.

The cable I2 is guided into and through the container 49 by means of a small guide sheave 50 and a large guide sheave 5I. The guide sheave -50 has an axle 52 which is mounted in U-shaped slots 53-53 in support members 54-54 amxed to the upper right 49, as seen in Fig. 5. The cable i2 passes,be neath the guide sheave 50 and over the guide sheave i. An axle 56 upon which the guide sheave 5i is mounted, is positioned in U-shaped slots 51-51 in support members 58-58, ailixed to the sides 59-59 of the container 49. A reservoir 60, located in the lower portion of the container 49, retains a supply of a liquid coating material, which in this particular embodiment of the invention is an organic, rubber adherent compound.

A particular rubber adherent compound that has been found satisfactory for the purposes of this invention is sold under the trade name Ty- Ply by R. T. Vanderbilt Company. Most compounds of this type are rather viscous liquids, and must be thinned or cut with a suitable solvent or diluent to be applied satisfactorily by spraying. Solvents and diluents suitable for cutting or thinning the rubber adherent compounds are generally quite volatile and inflammable. In order to lessen the explosion hazard produced byV the volatlized solvents, solvents having a high percentage of some non-inflammable solvent. such as carbon tetrachloride, may be employed. A particular thinner that has been found satishand portion of the container about 30% amyl-acetate and about '70% carbon tetrachloride.

The liquid coating material retained in the reservoir 60 passes through a strainer 6l to a centrifugal pump 62 which forces the liquid through the pipe 64 to nozzles or sprays 65, 69-99 and 61-B1. The pump $2 is preferably a glandless pump, because the carbon tetrachloride and the coating material may destroy the oily material in the packing of a gland type pump and render it ineffective. The sprays 65, 66-66 and 61-61 are of the swirl type and project a finely divided spray of liquid coating material upon different longitudinal cable (Fig. 5) and about various portions of the periphery thereof, as shown in Fig. '1. This particular arrangement of the sprays permits considerable freedom of movement of the cable to compensate for sag and fleet between the guide sheave 5| and a take-up reel 15.

The temperature of the cable at the point at which the liquid coating material is applied is regulated by means of the cooling device I4 so as to be low enough to prevent decomposition of the rubber adherent compound when applied to the cable surface, and high enough to quickly dry the liquid material upon the cable surface. For

F. has f this purpose a temperature of about 250 been found to be satisfactory. When the temperature o f the cable is correctly regulated, the liquid coating material will dry in a few seconds leaving a hard, non-tacky, metallic looking coating of the rubber adherent compound upon Vthe surface of-the cable Il. If the atomizing nozzles are incorrectly adjusted and the temperature at the point at which the coating material is applied is too high, a sizzling or frying of the liquid coating material upon the cable surface results. When this latter action occurs the rubber adherent compound is decomposed and is made ineffectual for causing the rubber covering to adhere to the lead shea The excess coating material that is sprayed about the cable l2 and which does not adhere thereto is collected in the reservoir 69 and recirculated through the device. Since the vapors resulting from the volatilization of the solvent or dluent may be harmful to the operator and may create an explosion hazard, a number of vents 68-68 are disposed near the top of the container 49 which connect with an exhaust fan (not shown) through a chamber 69 which surrounds a portion of the container 49. A water jacket 1| surrounds the lower portion of the container and keeps the liquid coating material in the reservoir -60 cool to retard volatilization of the volatile constituents of the coating material.

After passing through the container 49, the coated cable l2 is advanced through a trough 12 (Figs. 1 and 2) in which a plurality of vertical pipes 13--13 and horizontal pipes 14--14 are disposed, each of which has a number of apertures formed therein to project jets of water upon the cable as it passes through the trough 12. Consequently the cable is relatively cool, approximately F. or lower, as it leaves the trough 12 and is wound upon a reel 15. The particular means used to cool the cable Il after it leaves the container 49 is of no importance, since any suitable means may be' employed by which the cable may be cooled sufficiently to prevent the rubber adherent compound from remaining sticky or gummy.

In operation acommunication cable core I i, or the like, is passed through a lead press I0 wherein parts of the a. lead sheath is extruded around the core. As the lead-sheathed cable leaves the lead press I0, the sheath has a temperature of approximately 450 F. At this temperature any of the organic rubber adherent compounds now in general use would be decomposed and made ineffective as adhesives. For this reason, the cable is cooled by projecting a mist of atomized water particles from the nozzles I5. I6 and Il thereabout. These minute water particles flash into steam the moment they strike the hot cable surface and cause rapid cooling -of the cable, because these water particles have, in the aggregate, a very large surface area and consequently a very large amount of water contacts the cable. This fact combined with the fact that the evaporation of the Water absorbs a large amount of heat accounts for the rapid cooling of the cable sheath by the atomized water particles. Since the atomized water particles flash off into steam immediately upon striking the cable surface, the cable sheath is never wetted with water. fact is important in the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed, since, if any moisture were left upon theA cable surface, it would form a blister beneath the subsequently applied coating material and would cause peeling of the overlying coating material.

It has been found desirable to reduce the temperature from about 450 F., which is the temperature at which the lead sheath is applied, to about 250 F. at the point at which the liquid coating material is applied. If the temperature is considerably above 250 F. decomposition of the organic rubber adherent compound may occur, while if the temperature is considerably below 250 F. the liquid coating material does not dry before it passes into the trough 12 and the coating is flushed off mechanically by the jets of cooling water.

After passing through the cooling device I4.

.the cable I 2 is guided into the container 49 by the small guide sheave 50 and' over the large guide sheave 5I. The spray of coating material projected by the nozzle 65 is the first to strike the hot cable I2 and is designed to hit it on its under-` side, since that side s the coolest because it has been in contact with the relatively cool sheave 5i The nozzles 66-66 are directed upon the cable I2 so as to coat the surface of the cable not coated by the spray of coating material projected from the nozzle 65. The spray from the nozzles 61-61 is so directed that it tends to produce a smooth coating upon the cable. As the coating material strikes the hot cable surface it solidifies to a certain extent immediately, and within the space of a few seconds the volatile solvents or diluents are evaporated completely by the latent heat in the sheath, leaving a relativelyy hard coating upon the cable surface. The coated cable is passed through the trough 12 and cooled to about 150 F. by means of jets of water projected thereupon from the apertured pipes 'i3-'i3 and 'ld-14. This cooling is necessary because extended or prolonged exposure to temperatures over 150 F. will cause the dry, hard coating of rubber adherent compound to become sticky and gummy and lose its adherent properties.

The thus coated cable may later be fed from the reel through an extrusion press and a layer of a rubber compound extruded thereabout. During the vulcanization of the rubber compound, the rubber is firmly bonded to the lead sheath by the rubber adherent compound. The device for extruding therubber covering over the cable This last may be substituted for the trough 12, so that a rubber'covering is applied to the coated cable immediately after the cable is coated.

Other modifications of the particular embodi-` ment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings will be apparent to those skilled is desirable to coat the articles with a liquid coating material.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for treating a hot, leadsheathed cable, means for advancing such a cable through the apparatus, means for lowering the temperature of the cable sheath which comprises a plurality of atomizing nozzles spaced about the path of the cable in a vertical plane to project a mist of Water entirely about the path of the cable, means for supplying water to the nozzles, v

means for supplying air to the nozzles, and a support for the nozzles which may be longitudinally adjusted. y

2. In an apparatus for treating a hot, leadsheathed cable, a plurality of atomizing nozzles positioned in a vertical vplane about a predetermined point, means for supplying water and air to the atomizing nozzles to cause a fine mist of water to be projected from the nozzles, a container, a plurality of sprays disposed within the container for spraying coating material about a predetermined line, a trough having means positioned therein for projecting jets of water over a predetermined area, and means for advancing an initially hot, lead-sheathed cable successively through the water mist, the sprays of coating material and the jets of water.

3. A coating apparatus, which comprises a plurality of atomizing nozzles positioned in a vertical plane about a hot, continuously moving cable,

nozzles for retaining a supply of said liquid and' for collecting the excess liquid sprayed about the cable, a water jacket surrounding the lower part of the container for cooling the liquid held in the container, means for supplying said nozzles with liquid from the container, and means located near the top of the container for removing the vaporized solvent.

4. In an apparatus for treating a hot, leadsheathed cable, a plurality of atomizing nozzles, means for supplying air and water to the nozzles to cause a mist of water vapor to be projected about a hot cable as it emerges from the'lead press in which the lead sheath is applied whereby the cable is cooled, a plurality of sprays for projecting about the cable a quantity of a coating liquid comprising a rubber adherent compound and a volatile diluent, a container for retaining a supply oi' said liquid and for collecting the excess liquid projected by the sprays, a Water jacket sur-v rounding the container for cooling the liquid retained by the container, means for supplying the sprays with liquid from the container, a trough having disposed therein a number of apertured pipes for projecting jets of water upon the coated cable, and means for advancing the cable succes- 4 :,seaoas slvely through the water mist, the sprays of coating liquid and the jets o! water.

5. In an apparatus for treating a lead-sheathed cable, a plurality of atomizing nozzles directed toward a hot cable as it leaves the lead press in which the lead sheath is applied, means for supplylns air and water to the nozzles to cause a fine mist of water vapor to be projected about the cable whereby the cable is cooled, a container, a plurality of sprays positioned in the upper part of the container for projecting a liquid coating material upon the cooled cable, means positioned in the lower Dart of the container for collecting the excess liquid coating material projected by the sprays and for retaining a supply of the coating material, a water jacket surrounding the lower part of the container for cooling the coating material contained therein, means for supplying liquid from the container to the sprays, a plurality of exhaust ducts for removing the volatilized coatlng material, a trough having positioned therein a plurality of apertured pipes for projecting jets oi' water upon the coated cable to further cool the cable, and means for advancing the cable successively through the water mist, the sprays 'of coating liquid and the jets of water.

6. In an apparatus for treating a het, leadsheathed cable, means for advancing such a cable along a predetermined path, means for projecting a fine mist of water entirely about the initial portion of the path of the cable, means for spraying a liquid comprising a rubber adherent compound entirely about the succeeding portion of the path of the cable, and means for projecting jets of water about the next succeeding portion of the path of the cable, whereby the hot cable is ilrst cooled to a predetermined temperature withl out leaving any residual moisture thereon, the still warm cable is then coated with the rubber adherent compound, and the coated cable is iinally cooled to a temperature at which it may be handled further.

'i'. In an apparatus for treating a hot, leadsheathed cable, means for continuously advancing such a cable longitudinally along a predetermined path, means spaced about and transverse to the initial portion of the path of the cable for projecting 4a fine mist of water vapor upon the moving cable to cool the cable below a predetermined temperature, a plurality of sprays spaced from each other laterally and longitudinally about the 'path of the cable for spraying a coating material upon the cooled. cable, and means for projecting jets of water upon the coated cable to further cool the cable.

THOMAS K. COX.

ALVIN N. GRAY. VINCENT A. RAYBURN. 

